He toughed it out, despite seasickness

Nov. 19, 2012

Howard Konz served in the Navy during World War II. / Daniel Melograna/News Journal

Written by

Ron Simon

News Journal

About this series

Every day, this nation loses thousands of its war veterans, men and women who put aside their needs to serve their country. Each Monday, the News Journal will profile an area veteran and tell his story. The stories are archived at MansfieldNewsJournal.com.

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MANSFIELD — Howard Konz’s first ministry was aboard a Navy ship in 1945.

“As a chaplain, I was a lieutenant junior grade,” Konz recalled. “That meant I got to eat with the officers. I never missed a meal. I hardly ever kept one down.

“We never ran into any storms, but the waves made me feel sick.”

The Rev. Konz may have been a Navy chaplain, but he was no sailor.

During his brief stint in the Navy at the end of World War II, the Rev. Konz served on two small repair ships, the USS Ormsby and the USS Hector. His duties included handling a variety of services.

“I had to make sure that services were available for Catholic and Jewish crewmen,” he said.

He also counseled members of his congregation; produced the ship’s newsletter and, oddly enough, passed out condoms to sailors headed for shore leave. He could only hope they wouldn’t put them to use.

A native of Toledo, the Rev. Konz attended Morrison R. Waite High School, where he graduated in 1938. From there he attended Heidelberg College in Tiffin.

After his graduation in 1942, Konz headed for the Eden Theological Seminary in Webster Grove, Mo.

“Because the war was on, our seminary courses were taken down from four to three years,” he said.

So, as an ordained minister in the Evangelical and Reformed Church, he went into the Navy’s chaplain program. The Rev. Konz said he knew he was destined for an ordained life from the age of 12.

Not long before he entered seminary he married his wife, Evelyn Violet Moore, in 1942. By the time he joined the ranks the couple had one child, Gwen.

Evelyn and Gwen followed him through his training at William & Mary College and at Quantico, Va. With the war in the Pacific still raging, the Rev. Konz was shipped to San Francisco and then to Portland, Ore., to take up his duties.

He cannot remember whether it was the Ormsby or the Hector, but his ship traveled out into the Pacific and down the coast to Panama.

“We went through the Canal and then up to New Orleans where our ship was mothballed,” he said.

He does know he was seasick for most of that voyage.

He was discharged on June 6, 1946, at Great Lakes.

His first church was in Fostoria. He also drove 15 miles every Sunday to Findlay to serve a church there. After three years he was transferred to the Carthage Church of Christ in Cincinnati. He enjoyed his five years there.

“Carthage was a neighborhood out at the intersection of Vine and Anthony Wayne streets. I remember there was a distillery just across the railroad tracks. Every morning you could step out, take a deep breath and smell the stuff.”

Ministers get around. The next stop was at an Evangelical Home for the Aged in northwest Detroit. He loved his work there, and would serve two tours of duty.

Sandwiched between were 12 years as pastor of Mansfield St. John’s United Church of Christ. After a second tour of duty in Detroit, the Rev. Konz admits, “I was starting to wear out.”

In 1985 he and Evelyn spent 10 years at a lakeside home in Quincy, Mich. It was, he said, a bit of heaven and a wonderful place to entertain a growing brood of grand- and great-grandchildren.

Two children live close. Alan Rich Konz lives in Mansfield, as does his sister, Gwen Walter. A third child, Gail O’Leary, lives in Florida and hosted her parents for winter visits for many years.

Howard and Evelyn eventually moved to Mansfield to be closer to their family. At first they lived on Hillcrest Drive and then, five years ago, moved to Wedgewood Estates on South Trimble Road.

The couple continued to attend St. John’s United Church of Christ as often as they could.

For a few years, the Rev. Konz sang with the Mansfield Mastersingers and had helped organize the area’s Ministerial Association.

Less than a month ago Evelyn died. The Rev. Konz said his wife, who kept a lively journal of their 70 years together, was a descendent of the Rev. James Copus, who was killed by American Indians near Mifflin in the early days of the 19th Century.

At the age of 92, the Rev. Konz stays as active as he can and has no regrets about his career choice or his Navy service. He would have preferred to be a better sailor though.

Ron Simon is a retired reporter, award-winning columnist and veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces. He can be reached at ronsimon@neo.rr.com.